by John Walters

Starting Five

When The Lev P. Breaks

The star witness of President Trump’s impeachment trial (unless Rudy Giuliani cracks), Lev Parnas, sits down for an interview with Rachel Maddow of MSNBC (part 2 of the interview airs tonight). Without rehashing it here, some thoughts:

–Let’s introduce a new term for the blossary (blog glossary): “implausible deniability.” You know how many an accused suspect can assert plausible deniability, as in, yes, they’re the suspect but within reason they can deny the charges? Lev’s bombshells last night, atop all the other evidence seen so far, makes the deniability assertions of President Trump, VP Mike Pence and AG Donald Barr more and more highly implausible.

–Where would we be as a nation without the freedom of the press? Right now we’d be Russia. We really are no better except that we have a First Amendment.

–The Epstein Factor: When Lawrence O’Donnell asked Rachel Maddow, as she was handing her show off to him, WHY Parnas came out on record, her answer was succinct: “For his safety.” As Jeffrey Epstein’s death demonstrates, state secrets can die in jail cells if the right (or wrong) people get to you in time. By putting his stories out there, Parnas actually increases his chances of not being found dead in his jail cell because the motivation to silence him before he can speak vanishes. Of course, snitches get stitches, but we’ll see.

–Parnas was anything but a hostile witness. He was likable, even. And he did not speak with a thick Boris-and-Natasha accent. The fact that his lawyer never interjected also tells you how eager he was to tell his story.

— Will this matter to Moscow Mitch and the krewe? No. Sadly. They see all of this as a death struggle for the (white) soul of America, as does their base. There is no law that is inviolate, no principle too sacred, if adhering to it means the loss of power. Because then (in their warped minds) you hand the country over to those kale-eating, rainbow-shirt wearing liberals. Democracy no longer sounds like such a good idea if white values are not in the majority.

Pardon The Eruption

This is not the climactic scene from a Steven Spielberg film. This is the Taal Volcano in the Phillippines, which erupted last week.

This BBC story can explain better than I do why and how the volcanic eruption actually creates the lightning, i.e., it’s causal, not coincidental.

Bikini Eclipse

Continuing with the “Natural Phenomena Stories We Didn’t Get To Last Week,” this lunar eclipse in the Persian Gulf led some souls to consider it a sign that evil has taken over the planet, as they say devil horns.

We didn’t see it that way. We saw it as a giant neon pink bikini, which means that the SI/Maven Swimsuit issue cannot be that far off, now can it?

Where In The World?

Earlier this week I asked my high school friends on a group text, “Where’s the best place in the world you ever visited?” I didn’t ask my college friends, because they all would have answered, “South Dining Hall.”

Anyway, my good friend Oz has gone scuba diving here. Do you know where this is? Answer at the bottom of today’s column.

Related: It’s awe-inspiring what nature does when man stays the **** out of the way.

Five Films: 1995

1. Waterworld: Kev–just kidding. 1) Braveheart: “Freedommmmmmmmm!!!!” Didn’t see this until a year after it had come out, and I’ve only seen it five to ten times since. Mel Gibson not only made an outstanding film, but revolutionized the way war scenes are shot. It feels as if prima nocie is the ultimate goal of the current presidential administration 2) The American President: There’s that Rob Reiner guy again, directing a wonderful little romantic comedy set inside the White House. If this feels a little like The West Wing, that’s because they’re both written by Aaron Sorkin. The first two movies on this list are often on TV and I often stop everything to watch them. 3) Toy Story: Woody and Buzz Lightyear in a fable that anyone who’s ever been a child can relate to. The grosses on this franchise? To infinity and beyond! 4) Nobody’s Fool: My friend Mark Beech introduced this film at the first annual Johndance Film Festival and I flat-out fell in love with it. Paul Newman, Melanie Griffith, Bruce Willis and an ensemble cast in a wintry setting in a small town in upstate New York. Newman’s at his very best here. See it if you haven’t already. 5) Se7en: An easy elevator-pitch conceit turns into a compelling film with a head-turning twist at the end. A good friend once pointed out, for the next time you watch, to note how much care director David Fincher takes in pointing out how radically different Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman work, from a procedural standpoint. What an unbelievable year for Kevin Spacey, who had both this and The Usual Suspects.

This was a stronger year than I remembered. Besides the above you had Clueless, Tommy Boy, While You Were Sleeping, Casino, Heat, Mr. Holland’s Opus and Apollo 13. Wow. And it really does pain me to not put Tommy Boy on this list.

****

Answer: Rock Islands, Palau, western Pacific Ocean